Tennis: Fish hooks a big name in Ljubicic

Ivan Ljubicic was the first big-name casualty on the opening day of the Australian Open in Melbourne after succumbing to industrious American Mardy Fish - but there were no such problems for defending champion Roger Federer, who comfortably moved into the second round.

Ivan Ljubicic was the first big-name casualty on the opening day of the Australian Open in Melbourne after succumbing to industrious American Mardy Fish - but there were no such problems for defending champion Roger Federer, who comfortably moved into the second round.

Although well poised after taking the opening set, fourth seed Ljubcic began to struggle in the second set and eventually found his opponent's sizzling array of shots too hot to handle as Fish triumphed 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4.

Federer, meanwhile, cast aside last week's disappointing loss to Andy Roddick at the AAMI Classic by breezing to victory early in the day against German Bjorn Phau.

Despite struggling with his service game initially, it did not take long for the top seed and world number one to overcome his rival 7-5 6-0 6-4.

Sixth seed Roddick was forced to fend off an early challenge from big-serving Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before he moved through to the second round.

After losing the first set 18-20 in a gruelling tiebreaker, the highly- favoured American regained his stellar touch to seal victory 6-7 (18-20) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-3.

In the late game in the Rod Laver Arena, crowd favourite and former Australian Open champion Marat Safin received a scare from Benjamin Becker, with the number 26 seed taken to five sets by the feisty German before pulling out a 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

"He has a lot of respect from the players and he is a very tough opponent. I think we had a great match, he was up two sets to one and had his opportunities, but I guess I have a little bit more experience," Safin said. In a centre court match between two previous Australian Open finalists, Marcos Baghdatis also emerged victorious over Rainer Schuettler.

Cantering out to a 6-4 lead, last year's finalist overcame a brief fightback from the German on his way to a 2-6 6-3 6-2 win.

Mauresmo was first on centre court at the Rod Laver Arena and crushed young American Shenay Perry 6-3 6-4.

Despite the emphatic nature of her victory, the Frenchwoman will be looking to improve her performance in the second round.

"There were some good moments and some bad moments, especially at the end to finish off the match, where my mind went out a little bit and I thought I lost some intensity," she said. "I probably should have closed it out a little bit quicker."

Meanwhile, Jankovic, winner of January's ASB Classic and a finalist in last week's Medibank International in Sydney, was also in deadly form. Taking on Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, the Serbian raced away to a 6-3 6-3 win.

In other matches, Williams, who is ranked 94th in the world, signalled her return to the international arena with a comprehensive straight-sets victory over 27th seed Mara Santangelo. Unseeded and with little expectation, the American easily accounted for her opponent 6-2 6-1 before a packed crowd.

Drawn to take on American veteran Jill Craybas, Czech Nicole Vaidisova, however, was forced to work hard for her 6-4 5-7 6-1 victory.

Playing shortly after the young tenth seed, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova had an easier day at the office as she marched to a straight sets victory over Australian Jessica Moore.